Sarah Long Bridge reopened to traffic

PORTSMOUTH - The Sarah Mildred Long Bridge has been reopened to vehicular and maritime traffic.

New Hampshire Department of Transportation spokesman Bill Boynton said Sunday night that DOT crews completed the last safety tests on the bridge late Sunday afternoon, and that the bridge was reopened to vehicular and maritime traffic around 7 p.m.

Repair work on the Sarah Mildred Long bridge continued to progress Friday, but state transportation officials said it still remains unclear when the red-listed bridge will re-open to both vehicular and maritime traffic.

The bridge's center span became stuck one foot out of position on Wednesday, forcing its closure since then. Larger vessels were prohibited from traveling underneath it, and cars from driving over it.

With the new Memorial Bridge under construction, until the repairs to the Sarah Long Bridge were completed, the only bridge open to vehicular traffic between Portsmouth and Kittery, Maine, was the Piscataqua River Bridge on Interstate 95.